Road to Bozeman 2009

I have to say the trip to Bozeman Montana from Florence Arizona remains to this day one of my favorite!  It was packed with fun days of sightseeing and a great traveling buddy.  I picked up my friend Bo on April 26th from her home near Phoenix. We had not travelled together so were not sure how things would go.  We soon found out that we make great traveling buddies!  I arrived at her home around 9 a.m. and we shoved her suitcase under the dinette table that I had made down into a bed for her.  Stuffed the refrigerator with more food that she thought we might need and hit the road.  Because I am a big chicken when it comes to driving in big cities we took loop 101 North to Interstate 17 around and out of Phoenix!  I must say it was an easy drive on the weekend.  It is always fun heading out to new places but this time was even better because I had a friend with me.  Our destination for the night was The Flagstaff KOA.  This was only my second trip in the motorhome so I was still getting use to driving it.  To give Bo credit I did not seem to make her too nervous.  She is a brave woman!  We were to have a fairly short day as it was only about 140 miles from her house to Flagstaff.  I had a driven about 35 miles to her house.  It was a pretty drive up out of Poenix to Flagstaff.  Very different from other parts of Arizona.  We arrived at the Flagstaff KOA with no troubles.  To my dismay this KOA is very tight!  It had a short entrance and then very narrow roads and sites.  The staff was friendly and I made it to our site and we got set up with no trouble.  Since we had time we decided to drive down to Sedona through Oak Creek Canyon to do a little sightseeing.  I had never been to Sedona before so Bo was the tour guide!  The canyon was very pretty.  We enjoyed a meal while in Sedona then drove around looking at the sights.  When we got back to Flagstaff we went to the grocery store for a few more groceries.  We didn't know when we would have time again!  The next morning Bo had to stand out in the street and guide me out of the tight site we were in.  Not sure I would have gotten out without her help.  There was a tree on one side and a boulder on the other. 
We topped off the gas at a station across the street from the RV park then headed north on US 89.  We were headed to Lake Powell to spend the night. The drive was fairly easy for most of the trip.  We did climb one steep hill with 6% grades.  I was really proud of the way the motorhome climbed without any really slowing.  We parked at the top and perused the wares the Indian vendors had out. Ellie (my dog) enjoyed the little walk as did Bo and I.  The view from the top was also spectacular.  We could see for miles and miles!  Then on to Lake Powell.  We got there fairly early in the day and I must say the place is beautiful.  We had a great view of the lake from the campsite! The site was also really easy to get in and out of another bonus!  On this trip Bo had a little stuffed Gorilla that was named Buddy...he belonged to a first grade class in New York State and was traveling as part of learning geography.
So we took pictures of Buddy and Bo would email them to the class each night!  What a fun way to learn about our country! 

Buddy at Lake Powell



It was great that we got there early enough in the day to do some sightseeing.  Bo had told me that Lake Powell was beautiful and she was right.  I wish we had more time to spend there but it was on to see more beauty.

The next day we went all the way to Glendale Utah....I believe it was about 100 miles!  We spent the night at Bauer's Ranch RV Park, a tiny RV park.  The folks there were great!  We had a comfortable stay there.  After we got set up we headed off to see Zion National Park.  As we entered we stopped to take a picture of the entrance sign.  Some people there offered to take our picture!

Now we could prove we were travelling together!  Zion National Park is a very unusual place.  Bo and I really enjoyed touring it!  One of the unique features of the park is the tunnel that runs about 6 miles through a mountain.  I was glad we were not in the motorhome!  If you take an RV through you have to have an escort and travel down the center of the tunnel as it is too short otherwise!  That would not be a fun trip!  After we made it through the tunnel the road was real twisty...also would not be good for and RV.  We went to the visitor center and took a tour of the park on the west side.  We were able to get off the bus and walk up a trail to the weeping rocks.  They were really neat and worth the hike.

It was really neat seeing water coming out of the rocks!  Never saw anything like that before!  I guess that was my favorite part of Zion.  It was fun standing under the overhanging rock and feeling like it was raining on you!

The next day we drove a long long long way....44 miles!  All the way to Panguitch Utah.  We checked in at the Hitch-N-Post Campground.  We both felt a little uncomfortable in this park but it was ok for an over night stay.

After setting up and walking Ellie we took off in the car to see Bryce Canyon National Park.  I have to say I did not know what to expect but it was awesome.  I want to return there again and walk down in to the canyon. It is a very unique place!

The pictures of this place just do not do it justice. In my humble opinion everyone should see Bryce Canyon.  Bo and I enjoyed every minute of viewing this wonderful place.  When we got to the far end there was still snow.  It was a very pleasant day. 
The next day it was on to Salt Lake City to the KOA.  This KOA is located near downtown only 5 blocks from Temple Square.  Bo wanted to go hear the Morman Tabernacle Choir practice.....I thought that would be neat too.  We had planned the trip so we got there on the night of choir practice.  What we did not know was that they were putting on a mini concert that night also!  So we got more than we had hoped for!  Wow are they good!  I deserved a good night after having to drive through Salt Lake City!  The traffic was intense!  We made it safely and the RV park there is great so all was good!  That was our longest day on the road so far...we travelled about 240 miles! 
The next day we went on to Pocatello Idaho.  A drive of about 160 miles.  We were not real impressed with the campground but we were able to do our laundry and then go to Wal Mart for a few things we needed. 
They were working on I-15 at Pocatello so getting the RV back on the interstate was a little challenging but we made it!  We were headed to West Yellowstone to the Grizzly RV Park.  It was a trip of only about 160 miles but oh what a difference those miles made!  The temperature dropped dramatically.  When we got to West Yellowstone we discovered there was still a lot of snow on the ground!

Picnic anyone?  Well maybe not there at that time!  Wow it was pretty but glad we had not arrived earlier in the year!  We were glad to get there but the real reason for that stop was so I could show Bo Yellowstone!  One of my favorite places on the earth!  She had not seen it so it was a real joy taking her to the park.  The first thing we did in Yellowstone was go see some of the hot springs. 

We ran across this sign while walking around one of the pools and sure hoped the Bears could read!  Trust me we did not go beyond the sign and were thankful that we saw no bears in the area!
After that our next stop was Old Faithful. A must see for anyone visiting the park!

I have seen Old Faithful soooo many times that I am not as thrilled as I was the first time but it is still pretty neat!

The next day we went back to the park and visited the Canyon and Lake areas.  There were still parts of the park where we could not go because the roads were not open yet.  It was a fun trip because so much snow was still on the ground!  Yellowstone is Awesome any time of the year but my favorite time is Spring!

Everywhere you look is another awe inspiring view.  Of course it is always a bonus to see wildlife.  We managed to see 2 bears on one day!

Wow how cool is that!  Of course we also saw our share of Bison!

The next day we made it into Bozeman.  It was awesome taking that drive as it had snowed during the night and there was about 8 inches added to the landscape.  Thankfully the roads were clear!

I was delighted to make it to my summer home!

I went on to have a delightful season in Bozeman and was really thrilled to find the managers to be great to work for!  It was kind of sad to send Bo off to fly home the day after we arrived but we went on to travel together again!